


Taking Notice

by ProdigalQueer



Category: Kingsman: The Secret Service (2015)
Genre: Eggsy needs love, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, First Time, Fluff, Harry Hart Lives, M/M, Post V-Day, Praise Kink, there's a boner, two paragraphs of angst and then the rest is gravy, which is all the further I ever get
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-03
Updated: 2015-12-03
Packaged: 2018-05-04 16:36:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,832
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5341019
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ProdigalQueer/pseuds/ProdigalQueer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It’s a Tuesday when Eggsy drags himself in from his fifth mission in a row, staggering off the plane with his tie loose and his eyes ringed with purple smudges of tiredness. Harry and Merlin are waiting for him on the tarmac. </p>
<p>(Eggsy has a praise kink. Eggsy has a thing for Harry and Merlin. For once in his life, Eggsy's about to get exactly what he wants.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Taking Notice

**Author's Note:**

  * For [nervouscupcakestudent](https://archiveofourown.org/users/nervouscupcakestudent/gifts).



> She's the lovely darling who requested Merhartwin with Eggsy Praise Kink. How could I resist?

Harry notices it right away, of course, but he doesn’t fully grasp the implications. He tells Eggsy he sees a young man with potential, and it’s _so true,_ but it’s even more true after he says it, because Eggsy looks at him like he’s just thrown a loaf of bread to a starving man, and says “What have I got to lose,” with the tone of someone who _means_  it, and Harry realizes this could be dangerous, could be a _weapon,_ but all he really wants is to see Eggsy succeed and to see him smile. So between missions and comas, Harry hands out compliments like biscuits, and tries not let himself preen too hard in the spotlight of Eggsy’s adoring gaze. (He fails at this. Merlin tells him so, at least twice a week.)  
  
Then, Eggsy fails the dog test, because Eggsy only trusts people who trust _him_ , and Chester King is not one of those. Harry hurts for the younger man, hurts for himself, hurts for the look of _sadness_  and the look of _failure_ in Eggsy’s eyes. And all those feelings come spilling out of Harry in the form of anger and bitterness and disappointment, and he watches the strong curve of Eggsy’s jaw weaken, watches him wilt like a sunflower in a hailstorm, but it’s too late to take the words back, and in that moment Harry doesn’t have anything kinder to replace it with.  
  
So instead, he goes to Kentucky and gets himself shot in the head and dies on the blistering asphalt in front of an ungodly church. (For a little while.)

—

Merlin notices it almost from the beginning as well, but from the opposite side. He notices how Eggsy gets infuriated with Charlie’s cruelty, but never really defends himself with anything of quality, like the young man doesn’t think he’s got anything to defend himself _with._ Merlin notices the shadows in his eyes and the chip he carries on his shoulder, but he lets Harry be the one to soothe it and take care of it, until the parachute test. 

Because Merlin is their trainer, and he has to stay impartial, but it fucking _kills_  him when Eggsy looks at him with a hardness in his eyes like unpolished diamonds, and proclaims himself expendable in a way that’s meant to challenge the Handler, but also whispers ‘ _I know it’s true, it’s always been true,’_  underneath the harsh tilt of his words. Merlin can’t pull him close and curl a hand around the back of his neck and soothe away the wrongness of it right then. The best he can do is yank the cord of Eggsy’s parachute like a heartstring, and growl into the younger man’s stunned face about how that’s so much _bullshit_ , before stalking away. He still sees the way Eggsy’s face lights up from that, though, and the way the line of his shoulders settle into something easier and _prouder_.  
  
Merlin, in his own subtle, gruff way, tries to make sure it stays that way from then on.

—

Then Harry is discovered to be Not Dead, and Eggsy walks in on him and Merlin kissing gently in the hospital bed, and everything is wonderful and whole, only Eggsy doesn’t seem to realize it.

Harry and Merlin watch for weeks as Eggsy keeps a safe distance from them, careful and respectful and _kind_. They watch him excel as Galahad, watch him mother hen the other agents to distraction between their missions to put the broken world back together piece by jagged piece. They watch him take care of everyone but himself, a true gentleman and a true _Kingsman,_ in a way not even Harry’s fussy airs had ever quite accomplished.   
  
They watch him watch _them,_ with his eyes full and his hands nervous, words flickering soundlessly on the tip of his tongue. They watch the line of his shoulders dip back to _‘not good enough,’_ as he flits between missions and debriefings, barely stopping long enough to sleep. They watch until it’s painfully obvious that Eggsy is never going to push for anything else, that Eggsy doesn’t think he _deserves_ anything else.  
  
And they can’t let that go on. They don’t _want_ to.

—

It’s a Tuesday when Eggsy drags himself in from his fifth mission in a row, staggering off the plane with his tie loose and his eyes ringed with purple smudges of tiredness. Harry and Merlin are waiting for him on the tarmac. 

  
He’s a bit surprised by that, they know, and even more surprised when they tuck him between themselves and each of them sling an arm across his shoulders. He bites his lip and doesn’t say a word, like he’s worried he’ll break the spell. He keeps his silence all through HQ, not even chuffing out a corny one-liner as Roxy walks past them, eyebrow raised. 

He _does_ speak up though, when they usher him into the waiting cab outside headquarters, and squish in on either side of him without pause.

“Uh,” he breathes through chapped lips, eyes crinkled in confusion. “Am I bein’ kidnapped, then?”  
  
“If you like,” Harry says mildly, putting his hand on Eggsy’s knee, ignoring the resulting jolt that courses through Eggsy’s whole body like he’s been zapped with a signet ring.   
  
Merlin hums a noncommittal sound from Eggsy’s other side, and drapes an arm back around his shoulders. All of them can hear Eggsy’s loud swallow in the quiet of the cab.  
  
There’s silence until they pull up to Harry’s flat and usher Eggsy inside, hands at the small of his back. Once they’re all inside, Merlin and Harry are quick to remove their ties, jackets, and sweaters respectively, toeing off their Oxfords and setting them by the door with practiced familiarity. Eggsy hovers next to them, hands fluttering, looking horribly unnerved.   
  
“Uh,” he says again, and then, for once, his cheek seems to fail him as he watches them closely, mossy eyes gone dark with confusion.

“You’re not in _trouble_ ,” Merlin gruffs, when he realizes the direction Eggsy’s mind has taken. He reaches out and gently manhandles Eggsy out of his suit coat.  
  
“Quite the opposite, really,” Harry says, his voice airy but his eyes warm and kind. He steps forward into Eggsy’s space and begins undoing his tie. “You’ve just been doing an incredible job, you know.” They both mark how Eggsy’s shoulders go back a bit at that, how his eyes blink twice, quickly. “You deserve a break, we thought,” Harry continues, sliding the undone tie out from Eggsy’s collar.  
  
“A homecooked meal is as good as anything, yes?” Merlin chimes in again, reaching out to curl his hand gently around the back of Eggsy’s neck, hearing the way his breath stutters as he looks between the two older men, confused and wary.  
  
Harry and Merlin exchange a glance, knowing a casual approach isn’t going to work here. Not when Eggsy doubts their motives and doubts _himself_  as much as he does. They each take a half step closer, crowding Eggsy against the front door, watching him raise his chin, panic starting to curl in at the edges of his confusion. That’s not what they want.  
  
“You’re very impressive, love,” Merlin blurts, rougher than he’d meant to, but not caring.  
  
“Mmm,” Harry hums in agreement. “You’re amazing in the field, and in the office.”  
  
“ _What?”_  Eggsy bites out, pressing harder against the door, eyes darting between the two of them like they’re alligators or his oldest wish come true.   
  
“You take care of the missions,” Merlin continues stolidly.  
  
“And the other agents,” Harry picks up, a smile curling at the corners of his mouth now, as it draws closer and closer to Eggsy’s. “But you’re forgetting to take care of yourself, aren’t you, sweetheart?”  
  
The sound that leaves Eggsy’s throat might be a moan, or a sob, or a question.  
  
“Let us,” Merlin murmurs, leaning close, his lips brushing the shell of the younger man’s ear, able to feel the shiver that runs through him in response.

“I–” Eggsy stutters out, sounding lost, “are you–”  
  
“ _Yes_ ,” the handler confirms as Harry leans in the rest of the way, pressing his mouth against Harry’s own, swallowing the air that leaves Eggsy’s lungs in rush. The kiss is slow and gentle and definitive, and Merlin watches as the younger man’s hands curl into fists at his sides, as though afraid to touch. He gathers one of the hands in his own as Harry reaches out and grabs the other.  
  
“You’re so good,” Harry breaths between kisses. “We’re so proud of you, love. Happy you’re here, with us.”  
  
Merlin presses a kiss to the side of Eggsy’s head, mouthing at his ear again, feeling Eggsy’s body caught between a desire to flee and a desire to melt. “We _want_ you here, all right?”  
  
“I–” is all Eggsy says again against Harry’s questing lips, and it’s enough for the previous Galahad to pull back half an inch, looking in concern at Eggsy’s glassy eyes.  
  
“Eggsy? Do you understand?” Harry brushes his nose against the firm jawline, his thumb stroking against the back of Eggsy’s hand, waiting.  
  
And Eggsy gives a slow, uncertain blink, looking at both of them, his mouth slack and damp. “Yeah?” He answers, waveringly, in a way that really means no.  
  
They both pull back a bit then, and it makes a full-blown panic blossom on Eggsy’s face– a sort of scared they’ve never once seen on a mission. But their hands stay in his, and their gazes catch his own lost one, and suddenly Eggsy _sees_ , and it’s like finding water in the desert, it’s _coming home_.  
  
“ _Oh_ ,” Eggsy breathes, and the taut lines of his body go loose and settled. “ _Really?”_

_“_ You’re so good,” Harry answers. “How could we mean anything else?” His lips go to press at the pulsepoint of Eggsy’s neck, and now it’s Merlin’s lips pressed softly against his own.  
  
“So good,” Merlin reiterates in a rumble against Eggsy’s mouth, tongue diving in to taste and take what’s theirs now, for _keeps._ He feels the way it sends another shiver down Eggsy’s spine, and then feels the way Eggsy’s whole body jerks against theirs when Harry slides a hand down, down, to cup him through his slacks.  
  
“ _Fuck,”_ He stutters, his hips canting forward despite himself.  
  
Harry feels answering pleasure bloom low in his gut. “Anything you want,” He promises back earnestly, while Merlin skims his lips across the younger man’s stubble-rough cheek, whispering endearments between each kiss.  
  
“Just you two,” comes the response, punch-drunk and wonderingly, those hazel eyes already blown wide with arousal. “Just–”  
  
“ _Yes_ ,” They both reply in unison, leading their third up the stairs with slow kisses and soft praise that has him shivering and hiccuping soft whimpers in his throat.   
  
“ _Always_ ,” says one of them, any of them, as the door to the master bedroom snicks shut behind them, shutting out the rest of the world.   
  
Instead of dinner, they share breakfast.


End file.
